On page 63, you mentioned subsurface fluids flowing into SP, I think I may have found evidence of fluids flowing from above. I have always wondered why the eastern lobe looks like a dried up part of the western. What I think is happening: Sputnik Planum has always been on the opposite side of Charon, so the tidal forces push all liquids towards it. The eastern lobe used to look like the western lobe, but all of it drained into the Sputnik Planum, because it is a lower point on Pluto. This is confusing
Simple version:
SP is on the opposite side of Charon
All liquids go to SP
More liquid going into SP means more pressure on the land beneath it
More depression on the land below SP means more room for more liquid, causing even more liquids to flow to SP
The eastern lobe drained into SP
On page 63, you mentioned subsurface fluids flowing into SP, I think I may have found evidence of fluids flowing from above. I have always wondered why the eastern lobe looks like a dried up part of the western. What I think is happening: Sputnik Planum has always been on the opposite side of Charon, so the tidal forces push all liquids towards it. The eastern lobe used to look like the western lobe, but all of it drained into the Sputnik Planum, because it is a lower point on Pluto. This is confusing
Simple version:
SP is on the opposite side of Charon
All liquids go to SP
More liquid going into SP means more pressure on the land beneath it
More depression on the land below SP means more room for more liquid, causing even more liquids to flow to SP
The eastern lobe drained into SP
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If such an impact happened, the red stuff would have formed after the collision.
I think that the west side was covered (or "covered underneath" (underground )) by fluid, but the eastern side was not. Look at Page 20 of your website. The parts that were influenced by fluid on the western side was EXACTLY the ones that you described as different from the eastern side.
If such an impact happened, the red stuff would have formed after the collision.
I think that the west side was covered (or "covered underneath" (underground )) by fluid, but the eastern side was not. Look at Page 20 of your website. The parts that were influenced by fluid on the western side was EXACTLY the ones that you described as different from the eastern side.
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On page 27 I state that the blue fluid is wrung out of the atmosphere.
There appears to be strong suggestive evidence the gray fluid is also welling up from underground at least near Tartarus Dorsa.
The gray fluid near the edges of SP may be an atmospheric phenomena but deeper inland near Tartarus Dorsa the elevated mountains are not covered in gray stuff so there is no run off to explain the presence of the lakes in these locations.
There are isolated lakes that just pop up and seem to appear out of no where.
I would expect to see run off from the peaks of mountains but don't.
There may be two conditions creating this effect both atmospheric and underground.
The gray nitrogen is heavier than the white methane snow and does not travel far when in the atmosphere as evidenced at the south pole. So the atmospheric nitrogen is likely covering the mountainous area near SP and to the east but the lakes deeper inland are likely from subsurface fluid nitrogen.
I agree with your observation that cryovolcanoes are incredibly scarce in this area matter fact it seems there may only be one that appears at the center of the spider. I do see evidence of gray nitrogen fluid and gasses vent up from below the surface.
Everything else appears to be the result of venting moist gasses. These vents however build up mud dauber like mounds which could be called cryovolcanoes.
I don't think the eastern side of Tombaugh Regio was ever like SP. I still think it is a consequence of SP coming into existence but when SP was created (via shock waves) the sub surface of the eastern side was damaged and probably fractured but the damage didn't quiet make it to the surface like we see at SP. Instead the damage has been slowly seeping up through the surface ices in the form of venting gasses and fluid.
I've seen an interesting feature in the northern hemisphere which does make me think it was similar to SP at one point but has now frozen over.
It's along the western side of the northern hemisphere, looks like large broken ice blocks that once was surrounded by fluid or even covered by fluid.
Most impacts are gone from that area, it is mostly smooth. I am going to add a page about it and other things related to the north that I never saw before.
I agree with your observations about the tholin mixing with the gray stuff. There was a limited supply of the tholin on the surface relative to the gray fluid and this gray nitrogen seems to keep coming and coming mixing with and eventually washing away the brown or red looking tholin.
Page 19 has had major updates and changes related to the ages of the moons. When I first created that page, I didn't understand the situation as well as I do now.
Age dating the moons by impacts just doesn't hold up in my opinion.
On page 27 I state that the blue fluid is wrung out of the atmosphere.
There appears to be strong suggestive evidence the gray fluid is also welling up from underground at least near Tartarus Dorsa.
The gray fluid near the edges of SP may be an atmospheric phenomena but deeper inland near Tartarus Dorsa the elevated mountains are not covered in gray stuff so there is no run off to explain the presence of the lakes in these locations.
There are isolated lakes that just pop up and seem to appear out of no where.
I would expect to see run off from the peaks of mountains but don't.
There may be two conditions creating this effect both atmospheric and underground.
The gray nitrogen is heavier than the white methane snow and does not travel far when in the atmosphere as evidenced at the south pole. So the atmospheric nitrogen is likely covering the mountainous area near SP and to the east but the lakes deeper inland are likely from subsurface fluid nitrogen.
I agree with your observation that cryovolcanoes are incredibly scarce in this area matter fact it seems there may only be one that appears at the center of the spider. I do see evidence of gray nitrogen fluid and gasses vent up from below the surface.
Everything else appears to be the result of venting moist gasses. These vents however build up mud dauber like mounds which could be called cryovolcanoes.
I don't think the eastern side of Tombaugh Regio was ever like SP. I still think it is a consequence of SP coming into existence but when SP was created (via shock waves) the sub surface of the eastern side was damaged and probably fractured but the damage didn't quiet make it to the surface like we see at SP. Instead the damage has been slowly seeping up through the surface ices in the form of venting gasses and fluid.
I've seen an interesting feature in the northern hemisphere which does make me think it was similar to SP at one point but has now frozen over.
It's along the western side of the northern hemisphere, looks like large broken ice blocks that once was surrounded by fluid or even covered by fluid.
Most impacts are gone from that area, it is mostly smooth. I am going to add a page about it and other things related to the north that I never saw before.
I agree with your observations about the tholin mixing with the gray stuff. There was a limited supply of the tholin on the surface relative to the gray fluid and this gray nitrogen seems to keep coming and coming mixing with and eventually washing away the brown or red looking tholin.
Page 19 has had major updates and changes related to the ages of the moons. When I first created that page, I didn't understand the situation as well as I do now.
Age dating the moons by impacts just doesn't hold up in my opinion.
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Ok, so after a few days of thought, I think I can finally put the entire picture together.
So, the Tombaugh Regio used to all be like the Sputnik Planum, covered in nitrogen ice stuff. The volcanoes on the west side of Sputnik Planum are still active. So what about the ones on the eastern side? No, there are really no volcanoes there. There are only vents, spewing out red stuff, not white stuff. Why?
The eastern side of the ancient "Tombaugh Planum" (a name I'll use for the ancient Planum incliding the dried out part) which I'll call "Explorer Planum" (Sputnik, Explorer, get it?) used to have volcanoes. They are now vents, becasue they have exhusted their white fluid.
Why now are they spittiong out red tholins? Becasue they have exhausted the white (or blue fluid)
On Page 27, where you labled the picture Blue fluid mixing with brown tholin, the tholin isn't actually brown. It was as red as normal tholin, until it mixed underground, and was erupted by the vents. That explains why not all the red is the same color.
Oh yeah and also, where Stern Mons is near the edge of where Explorer Planum used to be.
You can see the area called Tartarus Dorsa, and Sleipneir Fossa. Stern Mons is right above Tartarus Dorsa. Point being- Stern mons used to be very close to Explorer Planum, before it receded.
So volcanoes (incliding vents) are very common around the Planums are.
Ok, so after a few days of thought, I think I can finally put the entire picture together.
So, the Tombaugh Regio used to all be like the Sputnik Planum, covered in nitrogen ice stuff. The volcanoes on the west side of Sputnik Planum are still active. So what about the ones on the eastern side? No, there are really no volcanoes there. There are only vents, spewing out red stuff, not white stuff. Why?
The eastern side of the ancient "Tombaugh Planum" (a name I'll use for the ancient Planum incliding the dried out part) which I'll call "Explorer Planum" (Sputnik, Explorer, get it?) used to have volcanoes. They are now vents, becasue they have exhusted their white fluid.
Why now are they spittiong out red tholins? Becasue they have exhausted the white (or blue fluid)
On Page 27, where you labled the picture Blue fluid mixing with brown tholin, the tholin isn't actually brown. It was as red as normal tholin, until it mixed underground, and was erupted by the vents. That explains why not all the red is the same color.
Oh yeah and also, where Stern Mons is near the edge of where Explorer Planum used to be.
You can see the area called Tartarus Dorsa, and Sleipneir Fossa. Stern Mons is right above Tartarus Dorsa. Point being- Stern mons used to be very close to Explorer Planum, before it receded.
So volcanoes (incliding vents) are very common around the Planums are.
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Thank you @WillowSkye I did use information from your linked site to understand tholin early in this process. Good site, good info.
The reason I did not lock myself into calling the "Red Stuff" tholin, wasn't because I don't think it's tholin but because I see evidence of reddish stuff that may not be tholin on Pluto.
It's on the eastern side of SP and I now believe its coming from, wait for it, vents.
That's right, I think there are vents all over the place on the Eastern side of SP.
I don't see evidence of vents anywhere on the western side.
And those vents are spitting out something orange-ish red, which looks like the rusty colored dirt in Hawaii which is loaded with iron.
The dirt is so loaded with rust colored iron in Hawaii that they soak T shirts in the dirt to make what they call dirt shirts which are orange. I have 3.
Which begs the question, what is this lightly colored dirt like orange stuff welling up as a gas from underground?
Tholin? could be. Dust left behind from sublimation? could be. Iron particles? don't know. I only know its very different looking from the tar like tholin in the west.
I'm on the vents wagon now. Seems as though fractures occur in the east as the land below is softened and rippled the vents form along these fractures and show up as conically shaped holes, around these fractures and conical holes the land is colored reddish but not like the tar tholin we see on the western side.
The tar tholin looks different than the orange tholin on the north pole and different than the orange red dirt like material in the east.
So to keep it simple I just called it all "Red Stuff"
Thank you @WillowSkye I did use information from your linked site to understand tholin early in this process. Good site, good info.
The reason I did not lock myself into calling the "Red Stuff" tholin, wasn't because I don't think it's tholin but because I see evidence of reddish stuff that may not be tholin on Pluto.
It's on the eastern side of SP and I now believe its coming from, wait for it, vents.
That's right, I think there are vents all over the place on the Eastern side of SP.
I don't see evidence of vents anywhere on the western side.
And those vents are spitting out something orange-ish red, which looks like the rusty colored dirt in Hawaii which is loaded with iron.
The dirt is so loaded with rust colored iron in Hawaii that they soak T shirts in the dirt to make what they call dirt shirts which are orange. I have 3.
Which begs the question, what is this lightly colored dirt like orange stuff welling up as a gas from underground?
Tholin? could be. Dust left behind from sublimation? could be. Iron particles? don't know. I only know its very different looking from the tar like tholin in the west.
I'm on the vents wagon now. Seems as though fractures occur in the east as the land below is softened and rippled the vents form along these fractures and show up as conically shaped holes, around these fractures and conical holes the land is colored reddish but not like the tar tholin we see on the western side.
The tar tholin looks different than the orange tholin on the north pole and different than the orange red dirt like material in the east.
So to keep it simple I just called it all "Red Stuff"
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Could you show the theory on the website to NASA? I think it could change the wa we look at the Eastern side of Pluto.
Could you show the theory on the website to NASA? I think it could change the wa we look at the Eastern side of Pluto.
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Yes I believe so.
There appears to be evidence of the desert dunes bulged ridge occuring as the result of this pressure as well.
There are so many things I could get lost talking about but on each page I have to stop myself so as not to babble.
The more I stare at this eastern landscape, the more I want to say but I don't want to become tediously boring so I try I really do try to keep it short. I know I've failed at that but I just can't stop talking about this place.
I just published page 28 with your idea
Yes I believe so.
There appears to be evidence of the desert dunes bulged ridge occuring as the result of this pressure as well.
There are so many things I could get lost talking about but on each page I have to stop myself so as not to babble.
The more I stare at this eastern landscape, the more I want to say but I don't want to become tediously boring so I try I really do try to keep it short. I know I've failed at that but I just can't stop talking about this place.
I just published page 28 with your idea
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Since Sputnik Planum was probably formed by an impact, I came up with this.
Blue = Sputnik Planum
Red = Melt
Brown = Surface
The object that impacted Pluto and created Sputnik Planum was likely at a low angle, from around 30-15º. The object impacted creating the Sputnik Planum and then went into the (liquid-ish) mantle of Pluto. When the object entered the mantle, it heated up and started to rise on the Eastern part of Sputnik Planum. When the melt from the object that impacted Pluto rose to the surface, it created deformation to the surface above it (creating the divide). Then it created Stern (right) Mons.
Update: This also goes along quite well with what you said about tectonics on Pluto.
Since Sputnik Planum was probably formed by an impact, I came up with this.
Blue = Sputnik Planum
Red = Melt
Brown = Surface
The object that impacted Pluto and created Sputnik Planum was likely at a low angle, from around 30-15º. The object impacted creating the Sputnik Planum and then went into the (liquid-ish) mantle of Pluto. When the object entered the mantle, it heated up and started to rise on the Eastern part of Sputnik Planum. When the melt from the object that impacted Pluto rose to the surface, it created deformation to the surface above it (creating the divide). Then it created Stern (right) Mons.
Update: This also goes along quite well with what you said about tectonics on Pluto.
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What if Charon was at this low pressure zone in space before Pluto arrived on the scene.
They are both revolving around a point in space so who captured whom.
Perhaps they are entangled around a low pressure point in space and both have been captured by something we don't see i.e. dark matter?
Just speculating but if Charon hit Pluto the damage would have been massive, totally altering everything not just one section like SP or the eastern side.
Look at the northern hemisphere of Pluto, it is more uniformly even across the entire north (relatively speaking) than the area's west and east of SP. Had Charon collided with Pluto more than half of it would have been cremated and the north pole would also have been disrupted. Instead we see a uniform north and chaos to the East of SP as we move above SP the chaos subsides. SP is creating an erosion system with fluids and arid areas. in the North its just smooth methane snow in most places. I know the spider is in the north but its a consequence of the rippled land in the Desert Dunes.
The "Great Sputnik Divide" continues.
I like that description.
What if Charon was at this low pressure zone in space before Pluto arrived on the scene.
They are both revolving around a point in space so who captured whom.
Perhaps they are entangled around a low pressure point in space and both have been captured by something we don't see i.e. dark matter?
Just speculating but if Charon hit Pluto the damage would have been massive, totally altering everything not just one section like SP or the eastern side.
Look at the northern hemisphere of Pluto, it is more uniformly even across the entire north (relatively speaking) than the area's west and east of SP. Had Charon collided with Pluto more than half of it would have been cremated and the north pole would also have been disrupted. Instead we see a uniform north and chaos to the East of SP as we move above SP the chaos subsides. SP is creating an erosion system with fluids and arid areas. in the North its just smooth methane snow in most places. I know the spider is in the north but its a consequence of the rippled land in the Desert Dunes.
The "Great Sputnik Divide" continues.
I like that description.
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I'd like to be clear on one point.
I never said Pluto didn't show signs of tectonics, matter fact I said the ridge at the south is the one place I thought could be tectonics.
It's Charon and NASA's interpretation of a rift which I called a huge rock that eroded off the cliff face as not being tectonics.
As I've seen more and more on Pluto especially to the east of SP, I've come to think there is some form of tectonic activity.
The eastern side of SP with all those vents, suggest some form of subsurface activity which is most easily explained by tectonics.
If water on earth is the lubricant that allows tectonics then when nitrogen reaches its triple point on Pluto and becomes a liquid it may be the lubricant that drive tectonics on Pluto.
Also the Desert Dunes being rippled like they are suggest some form of underground squishing (technical term there) and softening.
I also see signs of fluid welling up from underground in the Desert Dunes area.
So I am not at all saying there is no tectonic activity on Pluto.
Not sure about Mars since it appears very desert like, I'm open to the idea but it goes contrary to what I've always thought about it.
I always felt when Olympus Mons was forming subsurface material was being sucked out of the ground which ended up creating a gigantic cavity called Valles Marineris.
Professor An Yin from the link you provided had some interesting things to say, one thing that stood out immediately was the V shaped patterns which is exactly how I described Pitts' Pits. I wish I could get my hands on a copy of that map of Mars he had.
What are your thoughts on the ridge line on Iapetus the walnut moon?
I'd like to be clear on one point.
I never said Pluto didn't show signs of tectonics, matter fact I said the ridge at the south is the one place I thought could be tectonics.
It's Charon and NASA's interpretation of a rift which I called a huge rock that eroded off the cliff face as not being tectonics.
As I've seen more and more on Pluto especially to the east of SP, I've come to think there is some form of tectonic activity.
The eastern side of SP with all those vents, suggest some form of subsurface activity which is most easily explained by tectonics.
If water on earth is the lubricant that allows tectonics then when nitrogen reaches its triple point on Pluto and becomes a liquid it may be the lubricant that drive tectonics on Pluto.
Also the Desert Dunes being rippled like they are suggest some form of underground squishing (technical term there) and softening.
I also see signs of fluid welling up from underground in the Desert Dunes area.
So I am not at all saying there is no tectonic activity on Pluto.
Not sure about Mars since it appears very desert like, I'm open to the idea but it goes contrary to what I've always thought about it.
I always felt when Olympus Mons was forming subsurface material was being sucked out of the ground which ended up creating a gigantic cavity called Valles Marineris.
Professor An Yin from the link you provided had some interesting things to say, one thing that stood out immediately was the V shaped patterns which is exactly how I described Pitts' Pits. I wish I could get my hands on a copy of that map of Mars he had.
What are your thoughts on the ridge line on Iapetus the walnut moon?
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